Went to visit the Buenos Aires Chess Club this evening... our friend who is visiting from Toronto is an avid chess fan and a very accomplished player who spends a great deal of time cultivating his hobby online, on the chess server. Through this medium, he has met a number of friends, including a fellow chess player from Argentina.

Said friend came to visit Buenos Aires this weekend, and the two met in person for the first time. So, we decided a visit to the club was in order!

This particular club is one of the oldest in the world, and the building is older even than the Teatro Colon here in Buenos Aires.

Inside, there is lots of wood and stained glass and doors that seem to lead to places which are off-limits to visitors. Chess books and trophies line the walls, and the first floor features a large chess room, that is, a room where multiple tables are set up with pieces ready for play.

The boys were intrigued with the chess clocks that the few players scattered around the room were using to play timed games; I myself was intrigued with the percentage of people in the room who looked (an in some cases smelled) homeless.

Alex and Simon played a short game...

... after which Alex and Tatsy played a considerably longer game.

Twin B, meanwhile, was not so much interested in playing an actual chess game as he was in rearranging the pawns into a giant pile in the middle of the table. ;-P

All in all, it was an interesting visit, and especially fun to see our Toronto friend hit it off with his online chess friend here in Argentina, in person!